The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Loading ...

Loading ...

This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe

Hillary Clinton is making the media rounds promoting her book, Hard Choices, with interviews on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and NPR, where she has discussed topics ranging from Benghazi to Monica Lewinsky. But the question everyone wants the answer to: is Clinton running for president?

In her interviews with Diane Sawyer on ABC and Jane Pauley on , Clinton ambled around the question, saying, “I have a lot to think about” and with her first grandchild coming in the fall, she wants to “give herself time,” to enjoy life as it comes and make a decision at the end of the year. She told Pauley she has not made a pros and cons list yet for running.

Of course she has made no declarations, but her most recent interview on “The Daily Show” is her most suggestive.

Official portrait of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Stewart was prepared with a career aptitude test, “This can you help you decide if you even want this job”:

Do you want to work outside the home, or do you prefer a home office? “I kind of prefer a home office.”

Do you have a favorite shape of that home office? Do you want it to have corners? Or do you not want it to have corners? “The world is such a complicated place, the fewer corners the better.”

Unlike other interviews, Clinton did nothing to deter speculation that she is preparing to run, if not already running for president in 2016.

Stewart asked about the constant media scrutiny, and in particular the “We were dead broke” comment Clinton made about their financial circumstances after the presidency. She conceded that it was an “in artful use of words,” then segwayed into income inequality, and her concern for young people and the lack of opportunity.

Stewart quipped, “You know what was kind of awesome, and what says to me that you’re running for president? How easily you went from that to income inequality in America.”

Clinton laughed, then continued, “Six million young people between 16 and 24 are neither in school nor at work, they have given up, I think people don’t feel it. I think we have to change our economic and our political system so that we can make it a reality again. I think that’s the big business ahead of us.”

In the last two elections, analysts found that millennials (ages 18 through 33) were a significant factor in President Obama’s election in 2008 and reelection in 2012. One could argue that Obama beat Clinton for the nomination in 2008 because his campaign targeted young people, a demographic politicians normally do not address because of low voter turn out. In the 2012 election, millennials made up 19% of voters.

Clinton’s suggestive “Daily Show” interview was no accident, she gave a wink and a nod to one of the most important election demographics, saying that their concerns are her concerns, and that addressing those struggles is, “the big business ahead of us.”

Clinton wants millennials to be the first to get excited about her candidacy, because the demographic wins elections. Without making a declaration, Clinton found a way to tell young people, “I’m running for president.”